Garment assembly



United States Patent Richard J. Braman 1520 Louise Ave., Arcadia,California 91006;

Robert D. Scott, 1324 S. Glen Alan, West Covina, California 91790 April7, 1966 Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 293,115 July 5, 1963,abandoned.

Patented Aug. 25, 1970 lnventors Appl. No. Filed GARMENT ASSEMBLY 10Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 128/1425, 2/81 Int. Cl A62b 7/00 Field ofSearch ..l28/139-141,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 405.850 6/1889 Rollins 128/1431,991,601 2/1935 DeLasaux 128/144 2,813,272 11/1957 Hagan 2/82 2,826,7583/1958 Kahn 128/144 2,994,089 8/1961 Ferguson, Jr. et a1 3,058,18710/1962 Guqen 2/82X 3,096,702 7/1963 Malone, Sr. et a1 2/81X PrimaryExaminer William E. Kamm Attorney-White and Haefliger ABSTRACT: Agarment assembly useful in clean rooms and similar low contaminationareas to prevent personnel carried contamination from entering the roomis provided which includes suiting comprising a jacket, pants and ahelmet and fitted thereto an air inflow means. An air outflow meansoccupies the major rear area of the helmet comprising a submicron filtermeans impermeable to wearer-generated contamination, but permeable toair.

Patented Aug. 25, 1970 Sheet I of 2 fvvewroks. R/cHn/w J Ben/mm B05627D. Scar?- GARMENT ASSEMBLY This application is a continuation-in-part ofour copending application Ser. No. 293,115. filed July 5. 1963. nowabandoned.

The present invention relates to a garment assembly for use on a person,and more particularly. to a garment assembly especially adapted for usein low-contamination rooms and other controlled environment localitieswhere the contamination potential of occupants should be reduced.

It is well known that many modern manufacturing. assembly or testingactivities have to be carried out in low-contamination rooms orso-called clean rooms, the air and inside of which are carefullycleansed ofdust and other deleterious particles. It is also well knownthat the bodies of the persons occupying these rooms constitute a majorsource of contamination. In the past, various garments or suits havebeen proposed and employed in an attempt to reduce contamination to apermissible minimum. As the effectiveness requirements of these suitsincreased, difficulties were experienced with the prior art garments orclean suits which were unable to contain the contamination to therequired extent. Prior art garments were generally constructed of amaterial that allowed air to pass therethrough so that the wearer couldbreathe. The people working in these clean rooms have also more and morebeen required to refrain from the use of cosmetics and to observe manygenerally inconvenient measures which have not yet led to the desiredresult.

The present invention provides a clean suit garment as sembly whichovercomes these disadvantages to an extent not heretofore realizedthrough the provision of a garment assembly that effectively isolateswearer-generated contamination from the clean room environment.

Garment assemblies of various types are well-known, rang ing fromunderwater diving rigs to spacesuits. Each has its peculiar requirementsdictated by the use environment. Almost all garment assemblies,heretofore known, however, have sought to protect the person from theenvironment. Clean room technology on the other hand requires protectionof the environment from the person. Accordingly, previous garment designwherein air inflow to the suit is closely controlled but air outflow isuncontrolled is not useful. The control of air outflow to the extentnecessary to filter dust and other wearer-generated contaminationrequires the use of submicron, even absolute, filters. The outflowrestriction resulting from interposition of such filters in conventionaloutflow apertures causes reduced air flow over the wearer's body anddiscomfort due to resulting moisture accumulation in the suiting. Inaddition, positive air displacement into the suiting with insufficientoutflow provision may cause a rupturing of the suiting material. In US.Pat. 405,850 to Rollins, a conventional wearer protecting garment isdisclosed provided with positive air displacement means and quite small,but relatively unrestricted air outflow apertures (cotton filled). Othergarment assemblies cover only a portion of the wearers body leavingcontaminant sources exposed.

It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide agarment assembly adapted to protect clean room environments fromwearer-generated contamination wherein by a novel arrangement andextension of air outflow apertures highly effective, submicron filterscan be employed and adequate insuit air flow and complete room integrityboth be maintained.

According to the invention, the garment assembly is of suiting materialimpermeable to air and wearer-generated contamination and includes,jacket, pants and a helmet having a visor to enclose and cover thewearer's body. The garment assembly includes air inflow means, such as ablower supported on the wearer having a motor within the suiting andprovided with an air intake outside the suiting and an air exhaustwithin the suiting. Air outflow is provided through submicron filtermeans disposed in the suiting and occupying the major rear area of thehelmet. Additional submicron filter means can be disposed in the jacketand pants as will be described.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention. as well as thedetails of illustrative embodiments. will be more fully understood fromthe following detailed description of the drawings. in which:

FIG. I is a front elevation of the garment assembly of the presentinvention on a wearer;

FIG. 2 is an exploded rear elevation of the garment assembly showing thefilter means occupying the major rear area ofthe helmet:

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the blower supported on a wearer prior todonning the garment assembly;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front elevation of the blower partly broken awayto show underlying parts;

FIG. 5 is a detail view in elevation of the waistband seal and supportmeans for the garment assembly;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the waistband seal and supportmeans; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the seal between the glove andsleeve of the garment assembly.

As used herein the term submicron filter refers to a filtering mediumhaving an effective porosity such that particles of material greaterthan a micron in any dimension are trapped as by mechanical engagementin the air paths within the filter, such as the interstices of mattedfibers. The interstices and other paths need not in themselves be lessthan a micron in every dimension, provided the particles of desiredfineness are entrapped within the filter medium. Such filters provide apressure drop across them of from 0.1 to 1 inch of water and preferablyfrom 0.1 to 0.3 inch of water. A typical filter material is a mass ofcompressed inorganic fibers such as glass and asbestos fibers, but othermaterials including finely perforate films can be used, instead of or inaddition to fiber masses, where the capability of mechanically engagingparticles of one micron or more in any dimension is afforded. Where useenvironment tolerances are greater or less the filter medium can bevaried accordingly.

The term impermeable herein refers to the quality of not permittingpassage. Thus impermeable to air refers to a quality of not permittingpassage of air. Impermeable to contamination refers to a quality of notpermitting passage of contamination where contamination" refers tounwanted solid particulate, elongate or otherwise configured elements,such as dust particles in clean rooms and the like.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is provided as shown inFIG. 1, a garment assembly 10 comprising suiting including pants 11,jacket 12, sleeves l3 and 14, gloves l5 and 16 and helmet 17. In thisembodiment, and as best shown in FIG. 2, pants 11 include pants legs 20and 21 which extend to and enclose the feet of the wearer. A pair ofslippers 22 and 23 (FIG. 2) are desirably worn over the ends of pantslegs 20 and 21 to reduce abrasion on these portions. The slippers aremade of abrasion-resistant contamination-free material and can beinjection molded or sewn sheets of plastic, such as vinyl chloridepolymer.

Jacket 12 has the sleeves l3 and 14 sealably connected thereto at seams26 and 27 respectively. If a suitable material is used, the seams 26 and27 can be heat seal formed, optionally reinforced with stitching tape orotherwise.

The helmet 17 is secured to jacket 12 at seam 29 suitably by heatsealing, taping, sewing or solvent or sonic welding, as may beappropriate. The helmet 17 has a viewing window, visor 30, arrangedopposite the wearers eyes. The visor 30 is a clear plastic material suchas vinyl chloride, nylon, acrylic or styrene polymer. Preferably, thehelmet 17 is generally cylindrical for ease of fabrication and comprisescylinder segments, visor 30 and filter means 32, either contiguous orjoined by tape or other means to an intervening common material.

The pants 11 are sealably and releasably connected to jacket 12 atwaistband 33. For this purpose, a resilient annular female member 34having grooves 38 and of natural or synthetic material is incorporatedin pants 11. A resilient annular male member 36 having tongues 37a ofsimilar material and sized to be insertable and releasably retainable ingrooves are provided in registry on adjacent jacket and pants edgemargins. The mating parts of snap fasteners 49 are attached respectivelyto these straps 31 and to the pants 11. so that the wearer of the suitcan attach the straps 31 to the pants ll be fore establishing the sealat waistband 33. In this manner. accidental breaking of the seal isavoided.

The gloves and 16 are of air and contamination impermeable material suchas polyethylene. vinyl chloride polymer, natural or synthetic rubber orother suitable material. Each of gloves 15 and 16 has an elastic annularcuff 40 and 41, respectively, incorporated therein. Each sleeve 13 and14 has O-rings 42 and 44. respectively sealed to the free end thereof.The configuration of O-rings 42 and 44 is shown in FIG. 7. Elasticannular cuffs 40 and 41 cooperate with O-rings 42 and 44 to sealablysecure gloves l5 and 16 to sleeve 13 and 14 respectively.

In general, preferred materials of construction for jacket. pants. bootsand gloves are air impermeable plastic materials. Sheets or heavy gaugefilms of thermoplastics such as polymers and copolymers of vinylchloride. vinylidene chloride, ethylene, acrylic acids and esters.methacrylic acid and ester, propylene, amines such as polyamides andother polymerizable monomers are desirably employed. Combinations ofthese materials with other similar or different materials for increasingcomfort, strength, appearance or any other property of the suiting arewithin the scope of the present invention. For example, combinations ofplastic film with nonwoven materials such as massed material andsynthetic fibers, e.g. flocked cotton and silk, compressed nylon,polyester, spandex and modacrylic fibers can improve wearer's comfort.Relatively thin films can be strengthened by combination with fiberssuch as mentioned above, non-woven or woven into materials of varioustypes or coatings or laminates of films such as polyester or polyamide.thermoplastic or thermosetting resins, e.g. polyurethanes can also beemployed.

The garment assembly is provided with a blower 51. As shown in FIG. 3, aharness comprising straps 46 encircling the waist and neck of the wearersupports blower 51 at the middle of the wearers body. The blower 51 hasan inflow means, inlet 52, adapted to project fluid tightly from theblower through aperture 58 in jacket 12. Inlet 52 can be provided with agrille or inlet filter 52a if desired. Blower 51 comprises a housing 54suspended by straps 46 and a fan 63, powered by batteries 62, arrangedto exhaust through outlet 59. Generally, the blower capacity should besufficient to draw air into the suiting and force it out of the suitingfilters at a rate permitting normal respiration against the static headwithin the suiting. An air flow of 5 to 15 cubic feet per minute(c.f.m.) is satisfactory as are somewhat lower and higher flows. It willbe noted, the blower 51 is entirely enclosed by the jacket 12, exceptfor inlet 52. In this manner, contamination generated by the blowermotor mechanism (not shown) is retained within the suiting and notreleased into the use environment. Inlet 52 is receivable into aperture58 of elasticized material and is fluid tightly retainable therein, asshown in FIG. 1 with the housing 54 shown in dotted outline. The airoutlet 59 is also shown in dotted outline in FIG. 1 to illustrate thatit is generally arranged to issue air in the direction of helmet 17.Lateral or downward air flow is not as desirable but can be used. Theblower 51 can be any conventional self-powered fan mechanism, and ispreferably a nickel/cadmium batterypowered rotating fan blade assembly,such as are well-known. so further detailed description will not beincluded here. Actuation of the motor of blower 51 is by a conventionalswitch, not shown.

lmportantly with the present invention, adequate air flow through thegarment over the wearers body is realized and yet micron and largerparticles are filtered from the garment air outflow. This is possibleonly because sufficient filter area has been provided to permit adequateoutflow. Sufficient filter area is obtained by the occupation of themajor rear area of the helmet 17 by filter 32. Only by virtue of suchoccupation can the conflicting requirements of low filter porosity andhigh air flow need be resolved.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. the helmet 17 includes visor 30 andfilter 32 occupying the major rear area of helmet 17. In the embodimentshown, visor 30 and filter 32 are cylinder segments and the helmet 17 iscylindrical. Other configurations are equally satisfactory, e.g. aconical or square configuration. Filter 32 in a preferred embodimentcomprises compressed glass and asbestos fibers arranged in a mat havingplastic material around the mat periphery and traversed by a supportingmesh. generally 5 to 50 mils in thickness. Disc 70 closes the end of thecylinder-shaped helmet 17. The visor 30 and filter 32 materials inhelmet 17 are preferably fabricated of relatively lightweight materialsso as to be less cumbersome and irksome after long periods of wear. In apreferred embodiment, the helmet 17 is air floatable as will beexplained hereinafter.

In addition to the filter 32 provided in the helmet 17. other filterareas can be provided. These are desirably arranged to draw air flowinto the extremities of the assembly, thus filters 56 in the sleeves 13and 14 and pants legs 20 and 21 can be provided. The maximum gross areaof the filters 56 will generally be less than one half the total area Aof filter provided, or A/Z, and preferably filters 56 will provide only.25 A and less of total filter area; the remainder. .75 A and greaterwill be provided by helmet 17. The reason for this distribution offilter area is to (1) ensure adequate fresh air supply for breathing,and (2) for convenience in fabrication ofsuiting, and (3) for durabilityin use since sleeve and pants leg filters 56 are more subject to flexingand other unavoidable and accidental mechanical abuse. In a typicalgarment total filter area will be 30 to 40 R square inches, where R isthe air flow in cubic feet per minute provided by the blowers 51. If Ris 10. A is 300 to 400 square inches, and is desirably divided, thus,filter 32. 275 to 336 square inches; filter 56, 25 to 64 square inches.preferably but not necessarily equally apportioned among the severalsuiting extremities, e.g. I6 square inches each to sleeves 26 and 27 andpants legs 20 and 21, and desirably no less than 10 square inches offilter 56 per sleeve or pants leg.

As is clear from the foregoing, the materials of choice in fabricatingthe various parts of the present garment assembly are synthetic organicplastic materials, and/or fibers combined with plastics. Since plasticmaterials lend themselves to a great variety of joining techniques,seams between adjacent pieces, e.g. helmet 17 and jacket 12, or jacket12 and sleeves 13 and 14, or visor 30 and filter means 32' can be airtightly sealed together in many ways. some of which have been disclosedabove. In summary heat sealing, solvent and ultrasonic welding,adhesive, sewing and like techniques can be used. The combination ofsewing for seal strength and heat sealing for seal integrity isparticularly effective.

In use, the wearer first puts on blower 51 with straps 46. Jacket 10with integral helmet 17 is then donned and inlet 52 is press fitted intoaperture 58 in jacket 12. Pants 11 are then donned and sealably joinedto jacket 12 by connecting snap fasteners 49. Annular members 34 and 36are press fitted together to complete the sealing together of jacket 12and pants 11.

Blower 51 is actuated and air flows into the suiting. Inflation resultswhere the air inflow rate generally 5 I5 c.f.m. exceeds the air outflowrate of the filters 32 and 56 at existing interior pressure. As interiorpressure increases outflow rate, varying directly with pressure,increases until a pressure balance is achieved. Similarly, inflow ratewhich varies inversely with interior pressure will decrease as interiorpressure increases as the fan must operate against higher pressures.With submicron filters of the type herein described, the static head orinterior pressure differential over ambient or exterior pressure whenair inflow and outflow are equal will be in the range of 0. 1 to O. 3inch of water. At such a differential, it is desirable that the suit begenerally out of contact with the wearer's body and that the helmet belight enough to be lifted or floated off the wearer's shoulders. In thismanner, maximum flow of air over the skin and minimum garment weight areexperienced by the wearer, and the garment assembly can be worncomfortably for longer periods.

We claim: 1. Garment assembly adapted to protect clean room environmentsfrom wearer-generated contamination comprising: suiting to loosely fitthe wearers body including a jacket having sleeves and pants havingpants legs and a helmet having a transparent visor arranged opposite thewearers eyes, said suiting being fabricated of material and assembled tobe impermeable to air and wearer-generated contamination; air inflowmeans in said suiting including a blower supported adjacent the wearerhaving a motor within the suiting and provided with an air intake meansoutside the suiting and an air exhaust means within the suiting; and airoutflow means in said suiting occupying the major rear area of thehelmet comprising a submicron filter means impermeable to wearerandmotor-generated contamination and permeable to air to provide airoutflow from the suiting, said inflow means having a greater flow ratethan said outflow means thereby producing a positive interior pressure.2. Garment assembly claimed in claim 1, wherein said filter means issubstantially contiguous with the visor and air tightly attached to thesuiting below.

3. Garment assembly claimed in claim 2, wherein said visor and filtermeans are cylinder segments.

4. Garment assembly claimed in claim 2, wherein the helmet includesmeans for retaining air pressure and is floatable above the wearer at apositive interior pressure differential within the suiting of between0.1 and 0.3 inch'of water.

5. Garment assembly claimed in claim 4, wherein the suiting material isa synthetic organic plastic material.

6. Garment assembly claimed in claim 4, wherein submicron filter meansare provided in both sleeves and pants legs.

7. Garment assembly claimed in claim 6. wherein said air inflow meansprovides an air inflow in the suiting at a rate of R cubic feet perminute and R is a number between 5 and 15 inclusive inversely varyingwith the interior pressure differential and wherein total filter meansarea A is within the range of 30R to 40R square inches and is dividedinto a major portion occupying the major rear area of the helmet and aminor portion distributed among the sleeves and pants legs of thesuitmg.

8. Garment assembly claimed in claim 7, wherein the filter means in thehelmet has an area equal to 0.75A and greater and the remaining 0.25Aand less filter means area is uniformly distributed among the sleevesand pants legs.

9. Garment assembly claimed in claim 8, wherein the filter means is acompressed mass of inorganic fibers and each separate filter means hasan area of at least 10 square inches.

10. Garment assembly claimed in claim 7, wherein the blower is providedwith an air intake means fluid-tightly extending through the front ofthe jacket portion of the suiting and is supported by a harnessincluding straps around the waist and neck of the wearer.

